The Fool and the Arrogant Woman

Wow, I went to schedule today's chapter post and saw that yesterday's wasn't posted! Sorry about that!

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"Young master! Young miss! Please wait a moment."

The man at the stall called out with a deep and heavy voice.

Aotian and Rihai looked at each other, surprised and amused.

'Wanna play?' he transmitted to her.

'No doubt about it!' she replied, hiding the amusement in her eyes.

'What roles should we play?' he asked.

'Let's do this, Tian'er: you choose mine, and I'll choose yours.'

'Alright, I'll start…'

The conversation happened in an instant via spiritual transmission. When it ended, only a few seconds had passed.

It looked like the man had called out to them, surprising them, and then the two turned to him with doubtful expressions.

"Are you talking to us?" Aotian asked, frowning in confusion.

"Yes," the man replied with a serious and heavy look, determined to fool the two.

He didn't find their behavior strange — after all, Aotian and Rihai weren't ordinary, and their Foundation Establishment-level communication was practically invisible to a mere Qi Refinement cultivator like him.

"What does trash like you want from us?" Rihai snapped coldly, with a lofty and disdainful glare, clinging arrogantly to Aotian's arm like a spoiled young lady.

The man's mouth twitched slightly, though almost imperceptibly. He had dealt with arrogant types before, and given the luxurious clothes and appearance of the two, he was prepared.

Still, hearing such a venomous insult come from the mouth of such a beautiful woman with pure blue eyes like Rihai's was a bit disconcerting.

'Hehe… trash, huh. Looks like I'll have to bleed them more than I planned,' he mocked inwardly, already preparing to squeeze twice the spirit stones from them.

"Young lady, the world is far too vast to judge by appearances alone. I used to be like you: strong, lively, confident... If someone had told me certain things early on and I had listened, haah… I wouldn't be just this crippled old man today." His eyes grew distant for a moment, as if in regret.

Aotian and Rihai nearly rolled their eyes.

Although the man truly had a low cultivation — only at the 3rd level of Qi Refinement — he wasn't crippled. He was simply using a decent technique to conceal his cultivation and aura. To them, both in Foundation Establishment, his true level was obvious.

"Old man, stop talking nonsense. Say what you want, or someone here is going to kill you for getting in our way." Rihai snapped with disdain, giving Aotian a pat on the chest.

Aotian looked around, confused, scratching his head.

"Who?" he asked, baffled, seeing no one nearby.

"..." The scammer.

"..." Rihai.

"YOU! IDIOT!" Rihai roared at Aotian, slamming her hand on the table in her fury.

The man's "treasure", which sat on the table, bounced into the air with the impact.

Snapping out of his shock, the man quickly snatched the item midair and cradled it with a look of horror.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?! You almost broke this soul lantern!" he shouted, gritting his teeth in apparent rage — though inside, he was thrilled by the opportunity.

"Soul lantern?" Rihai repeated in doubt, eyeing the piece that emitted a faint green glow.

"Yes, this lantern was found by me in an ancient tomb. Cultivating beside it can double your spiritual control. From what I've deduced, it has something to do with soul enhancement. But after it doubles the control, it brings no further benefit, which is why I want to sell it. I need to find a way to repair my cracked dantian," the man explained with a bitter tone, gritting his teeth in frustration.

To his delight, Rihai's eyes gleamed with a greedy expression as she looked at the lamp.

Aotian, on the other hand, wore a foolish expression, as if he didn't understand a thing.

"How much do you want for it?" Rihai narrowed her eyes and asked, letting a hint of contempt show in her gaze.

'This is it! Looks like this one'll be easy.' The man's eyes narrowed seriously. He was convinced he had already won.

"This lantern is extremely valuable. I've never seen anything like it. If not for my financial situation, I would never part with it. But you two seem to have the resources, which is why I called you. You can take it for one million spirit stones," he declared firmly.

The price made Rihai — and even the "fool" Aotian — widen their eyes slightly.

"Heeh… a cripple like you really has the nerve to ask that from this young lady."

With disdain, she slapped her spiritual pouch and tossed 50 mid-grade spirit stones onto the table — equivalent to 5,000 low-grade ones.

"I'm giving you this change so you won't go around saying I'm a bad person. Now get out of my sight unless you want to die," Rihai said arrogantly, picking up the lantern carelessly and storing it while glaring coldly at the man.

"Y-You can't do this, that treasure is worth way more!" the man gritted his teeth in fury.

But Rihai didn't care and patted Aotian's chest, as if commanding him. And he followed like a good tool, putting on a brave expression and releasing a slight spiritual pressure, equivalent to the late stage of Qi Refinement, onto the man.

Grinding his teeth and shaken, the scammer grabbed the stones with a dark and furious face — and ran off under Rihai's mocking gaze.

Inside, however, the scammer was ecstatic.

'Haha! Idiots. I knew they'd fall for it, but I didn't think it would be this easy. I didn't even have to threaten them, or use the city lord's name, or mention that killing is forbidden here for them to leave behind some spirit stones and snatch the lamp. Shame I couldn't get more, but 50 mid-grade spirit stones for a broken lantern that barely glows with this weak green light? I'll take it!'

He thought with glee as he fled, pretending to be angry. While passing by, he spotted the young man he had scammed earlier approaching the area where his previous stall had been.

"YOU BASTARD OLD MAN, WHERE ARE YOU?! I'LL KILL YOU!"

"HOW DARE YOU SELL ME A USELESS PIECE OF SPIRITUAL BRONZE?!"

The youth shouted, but saw no sign of the old man. Grinding his teeth in hatred, he began looking around furiously.

That only made the scammer pick up his pace, walking away as fast as he could.

Aotian and Rihai, still standing in place, watched the scene with amusement.

"Ugh… I get chills just from playing that kind of role. It's so degrading," Rihai complained with a bitter look.

She hated arrogant people like that, so imitating one didn't sit well with her.

"I thought you did great. It looked so natural. I almost broke up with you, thinking you had a hidden bizarre side, Hai'er," Aotian teased, playfully tugging on a strand of her hair, which irritated her.

She pushed his hand away with the back of her own and glared at him angrily.

"How dare you, Aotian. You were the one who picked the role for me. And I've lived with many people like that, it's easy to imitate." She rolled her eyes. "Besides, the role of a dumb brute suits you too." She didn't let the insult slide, smiling mischievously.

"Ha ha… you can drop the act now, Hai'er," he replied with a grin, unbothered by the insult and returning one of his own.

Rihai opened her mouth, incredulous, but her lips curling upward uncontrollably made it obvious she was enjoying his response.

"Tian'er, you're being mean now." She couldn't help it and buried her face into his chest, trying to hide her smile.

"Hey, why have you been hiding your face lately whenever you want to laugh at something I say?" he asked helplessly, hugging her.

"So you don't get more full of yourself than you already are!" she replied, muffled, still with her face in his chest.

"Hey!" he protested, then paused for a moment. "Fair enough."

"Pff!" Rihai laughed against his chest upon hearing the simple admission.

Aotian smiled as he felt her soft laughter against him.

But then, Rihai seemed to remember something.

"The scammer… he's going to come looking for us, isn't he?" she asked curiously, her voice still muffled.

"I have no doubt about it." Aotian chuckled, stretching out his hand to the side and tossing a mysterious storage pouch up and down, one that had somehow appeared in his hand, clearly amused by it.

…

Far from there, the scammer ran through alleys, and gradually, what was once a middle-aged man transformed into a boy of about sixteen, running toward an old-looking house.

Looking around and making sure he wasn't being followed, he walked toward it with relief.

Reaching the door, he knocked in a specific rhythm and waited.

A few minutes later, a tiny voice sounded from inside.

"Brother?"

The voice was childlike and timid.

Upon hearing it, the boy's eyes softened.

"It's me, Jingjing. Open the door for your brother," he said gently, smiling.

The door slowly opened, revealing a beautiful, pale little girl of about eleven, with white hair and eyebrows. Her eyes sparkled with joy at the sight of the boy.

"Brother!" She ran and jumped into his arms, hugging him tightly.

The boy lovingly stroked her hair and entered the house with her clinging to him, giggling happily as she was carried like a little tick. However, between giggles, she let out light coughs, which made the boy's smile falter — before he forced himself to bring it back.

Closing the door behind him, he looked at the little girl with joy, remembering some good news.

"Jingjing, hehe, today your brother had a really profitable day. Don't worry about medicine for the next few days, and we'll be able to eat well!" the boy said with his nose high, proudly, making the little girl's face light up with joy.

"Can we eat some spiritual rice?! It's been so long… I miss it!" she asked with bright, childish eyes.

"Of course, leave it to your brother!" Confident, he patted the place where his pouch of spirit stones should be, ready to show off his earnings and boast to his sister.

But as he did so, he completely froze.

The pouch wasn't there. In its place was just a rolled-up piece of paper.

Stunned, he grabbed and unrolled it.

There were the following characters, with a drawing at the end that made his face darken:

"Scamming others is a terrible thing. But it's really fun! \*o*/

 — The Fool and the Arrogant Woman."